By Audience

More

Laura

About Laura

I love stories--on stage, on the page, on screen and in song. Favorite storytellers include Willa Cather, Tim Gautreaux, Arthur Miller and Bruce Springsteen. Fan of big cities, little theaters and boardwalks. Favorite quote: "You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world. But then you read." James Baldwin

My favorite bumper sticker is both witty and true: UNIONS: The Folks That Brought You the Weekend. The five-day work week. Collective bargaining. Safe working conditions. Labor activists fought for all these and more to improve workers' lives. Want to learn more about the labor movement's fascinating history? Check out these inspiring novels featuring union…

Pilsen is on Forbes' 12 Coolest Neighborhoods Around The World list, alongside other “up-and-coming" communities. Praised for attractions including its popular murals and “cutting-edge culture and art,” Pilsen is also the subject or setting of three books, as well as an inspiring documentary—so you can explore the neighborhood vicariously before you visit. Brimming with photos…

Anthony Jacques is in only two episodes of Atypical, the Netflix series about a high school student with autism. But it's in Jacques' scenes that the show really comes alive. There's a crackling energy in the young actor's performance as Christopher, who calls the main character a snoozefest before the two teenagers hilariously discover some…

With a map of New York City on my wall and fashion magazines by my bed, my 16-year-old self would have loved watching the twice-yearly Fashion Week. (The shows! The trends! The fashionista street style!) But as an adult, I sometimes think: Fashion? I've no time for fashion. But here’s the thing. Browsing the occasional…

This post is part of our occasional series Chicago Authors on eBooks, but Sara Paretsky's titles are also available in print, as noted below. Beloved fictional detective V.I. Warshawski emerged during a meeting between Sara Paretsky and a less-than-beloved boss over 35 years ago. As “Fred” droned on and Paretsky censored her “unprintable” thoughts, the…

Years ago, a Vietnam veteran I knew was asked how long he served in Vietnam. Instead of estimating in weeks or months, he rattled off the precise number of days. I was struck by the intensity of his response—as if the experience remained close to his thoughts—and it inspired me to learn more about the…

Equal pay and equal opportunity for women. Today these are basic rights, not radical concepts. But less than 50 years ago, The New York Times still had separate want ads for men and women. “All the good jobs—the premier jobs—were for the males,” says Jacqui Ceballos in She's Beautiful When She's Angry, an inspiring documentary…

James Weldon Johnson is often called the Renaissance Man of the Harlem Renaissance—with good reason. The author of the novel The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man, he was also a respected poet, newspaper columnist, diplomat and the first black leader of the NAACP. But he is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics to the stirring…

Before Carole King’s songs were recorded by Aretha Franklin, The Monkees and Amy Winehouse, before she released her chart-topping, mega-selling album Tapestry, and before she was named a 2015 Kennedy Center honoree, she was a teenage mother in Brooklyn, struggling to make a living in the music business. She was—and remains—brilliant, though at 18 that brilliance had…

On the 50th anniversary of Death of A Salesman's Broadway premier, Arthur Miller fans packed a Manhattan bookstore for a rare appearance by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. A teenage girl a few feet from me surveyed the fire-hazard of a crowd and said with awe: It’s like he’s Madonna or something. Although famous for his appearance before the…